5 Habits of Top Advisors

An ever-increasing income? A happy marriage and well-adjusted children? Or, is it simply the pride you get from moving through the journey of life with profound personal and professional meaning?

We live in a world of illusion. The illusion that the next thing will make us happy. The next house. The next vacation. The next relationship. In reality, more stuff doesn’t make us happier. It makes us more distracted. I’ve seen this in my own life, growing up without a lot of material things. Early in my career, I was driven to accumulate houses and cars, and every other material object that exemplified success to me. My wife and I are happy today, but no happier than when we had almost no money and a 1,100-square-foot house.

So, what am I getting at? In my career as a financial advisor, I’ve learned success has many definitions – and even more motivations. But, we all need a single path to follow to get there (unless you’re realizing you’re already there – which is great news). I’ve always been fascinated by what drives our inner-most desires and how this translates to everyday life of running a business as an advisor. Often times, this relentless desire to achieve more is driven by one idea we feel is always just out of reach: happiness.

Just as success means something different to each of us, so does our own pe rception of happiness. Of course, in order to reach this beautiful balance of “successful happiness,” we have to develop a number of key habits. These habits come from a variety of conversations I’ve had with Fortune 500 CEOs, professional athletes, and even senators throughout my 30+ years in this profession. Imprint them into your advisor DNA and see how quickly you can reach The Sustainable Edge – and a more meaningful purpose:

1. Find Your Relentless Burning Desire

Without a “why” you can’t be driven to succeed. A relentless burning desire is foundational in your path to success. As Simon Sinek says, “People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.”

2. Become Goal-Focused

All successful people are not only goal-oriented but can easily visualize themselves achieving their goals. Have a mechanism in place for making your goals visible. Our advisors use a simple exercise called the 6 Most & Vital 1 (Click here and enter the code “6most” to receive a copy) to track their daily activity and tie this activity back to their strategic goals.

3. Know Your Strengths and Move Others Around You

One of the resounding common habits in all the successful people I work with is the ability to know their strengths, recognize/delegate their weaknesses (because we all have them), and bring in those who can improve the trajectory of the business. Your success as a business owner will be directly correlated to the quality of people you bring in around you.

4. Be Quick to Communicate

Part of being a great leader and successful entrepreneur is effectively and clearly communicating with those around you. The better your communication, the more everyone else is on the same page to move forward. It’ll inspire those who work with you and provide clarity on how to achieve that vision of growth.

5. Seek Wisdom From Others

This is why Peak Advisor Alliance has such a strong mission for advisors. The second you realize you don’t have all the answers is the second you open yourself to growth. If it’s not broken, break it. Don’t fall in love with how you’re doing something. Those who are successful constantly push themselves out of their comfort zone to learn and achieve more. It’s not the destination, but the journey. As Gandhi once famously said, “Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you will live forever.”

If you’d like to see all 14 Habits of Top Achievers, watch our video:

Where do you go from here? Well, first define what success and happiness mean to you. It’s the most important question, yet it’s also where 99% of advisors fall short. Once you know the thing that will inspire you every morning, start asking how you’ll achieve it. Leverage the 14 habits mentioned above to help get you moving and develop a daily routine to remind you of how your activity contributes to your bigger vision.

The past is bedrock, unchangeable, and the future is clay, to be molded day by day. So, make the most of it by adopting new habits. You’ll surprise your team, your family, and yourself at what may come of it.

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The eMoney Advisor blog is your source for the latest news relevant to the Financial Advisor community. We cover financial trends, advances in technology, and the newest updates to the eMoney platform while providing best practices that will help you grow your business and better serve your clients.